Thoughts please

Really struggled with fm14 and so far with 15, ive restarted 4 times with my beloved spurs!, gave up and started unemployed ending up at Colchester, anyway trust me ive searched read and tried all stickys on here as well as various other websites etc, I feel like im learning from each experience (painfully) but like I said after failing 4 times with spurs and as a fan I can see pochettinos problems!, so far ive had my best pre season even beating burnley (larger rep team) so I jst wanted some thoughts before I embark on 5th time lucky!

3 formations

1) 4-2-4

2) 4-1-2-2-1 most used see below

3) 5-2-2-1

gk/d

fb/s

fb/s

cd/d

cd/stopper

bwm/s

bwm/s

winger/s

winger/s

adv f/s

shape is structured on all 3 formations

mentality varies

0

team instructions for all 3 formations is play wider and clear ball to flanks (with spurs I feel I went overkill on these so ive tried to keep it simple

any thoughts would be helpful

id like to post my 4 attempts with spurs but got myself in a real mess I wouldn't kno where to start!

im desperate to not have another mare ill never give up but it does become life consuming which I suppose is why we love and hate it!

Yeah, what peleJunior said. You must have missed that particular thread because a read through that then a glance at your Role / Duty allocation will be a lightbulb moment.

What I noticed straight away, no playmakers.

Cheers for your replys

I did read that sticky for one of my spurs files but either my interpretation of it or other it just made things worse

Re no playmaker post my process is

Full backs to support midfield so no big gap as my wingers are high up

One cb as stopper to push out so no gap in dm

2 ball winning midfielders as my team instructions are exploit flanks and play wider and clear to flanks so basically win the ball and give to creative wingers, I suppose I could put them to attack but don't want a massive gap between my full backs and wingers

I have also played a dm or a cm on defend duty

But summarising win the ball give to wingers give to striker so no need for playmaker

Cheers for your replys

I did read that sticky for one of my spurs files but either my interpretation of it or other it just made things worse

Re no playmaker post my process is

Full backs to support midfield so no big gap as my wingers are high up

One cb as stopper to push out so no gap in dm

2 ball winning midfielders as my team instructions are exploit flanks and play wider and clear to flanks so basically win the ball and give to creative wingers, I suppose I could put them to attack but don't want a massive gap between my full backs and wingers

I have also played a dm or a cm on defend duty

But summarising win the ball give to wingers give to striker so no need for playmaker

The BWM (and especially on support) go actively hunting for the ball, vacating their position in midfield, they don't hold, you have no protection in midfield if you pair two of them together, and they will be a complete disaster in that 424 formation! You will be murdered through the middle, murdered. Seriously, read the Pairs Sticky again, because your wings are static your midfield is unbalanced. I can't say much else about your other formations, as you haven't really posted them. But that 424 oh boy!!

I've actually ditched the 4-2-4 as common sense prevails!

So it's

Gk

Fb/s

Fb/s

Cd/s

Cd/d

Then either another cd/d

Or

Dm/d

Or

Cm defend

Then

BMW/s

BMW/s

Winger/s

Winger/s

Adf/a

Any better? It seems to be doing so well in pre season I've played 5 won 5 all against similar or larger rep teams only let in 1 against larger rep team and scored 15 so I'm apprehensive to change to much as failed miserably with spurs by doing too much tinkering

But I do appreciate your thoughts...

I wouldn't put too much stock in pre season results. Okay, this set up is still static down the wings with doubled up support roles, there will be little to no combination play down there making the AI's life very easy. It's similar in midfield with two BWMs roles. Now that you have a midfield player holding with a defensive duty you can let one of those BWMs off the leash into a more attacking role. Finally, the AF as a lone striker will find himself isolated in better set ups than this, this one is exaggerating it even more, with no attack duties getting up near him to help him out! Lone striker systems that do not incorporate AM struggle if the ST is given an attack duty as he becomes isolated from your midfield.

I wouldn't put too much stock in pre season results. Okay, this set up is still static down the wings with doubled up support roles, there will be little to no combination play down there making the AI's life very easy. It's similar in midfield with two BWMs roles. Now that you have a midfield player holding with a defensive duty you can let one of those BWMs off the leash into a more attacking role. Finally, the AF as a lone striker will find himself isolated in better set ups than this, this one is exaggerating it even more, with no attack duties getting up near him to help him out! Lone striker systems that do not incorporate AM struggle if the ST is given an attack duty as he becomes isolated from your midfield.

If I put my wingers to attack as they are already In a high position won't this just create even more space away from my full backs? And if I change them too then surely I'm too attacking? Fair enough re letting one midfielder off I will prob do this, so making my wingers attack and one cm attack will then support the forward enough right? That does mean I'm making 3 players attacking that wernt before sureley this is asking for trouble?

If I put my wingers to attack as they are already In a high position won't this just create even more space away from my full backs? And if I change them too then surely I'm too attacking? Fair enough re letting one midfielder off I will prob do this, so making my wingers attack and one cm attack will then support the forward enough right? That does mean I'm making 3 players attacking that wernt before sureley this is asking for trouble?

If you overload on conservative roles you will get into even worse trouble as passing lanes and combinations become non existent which makes it very very hard to get up the pitch, if you can't get up the pitch you will be penned into your own half and overwhelmed. People think I will keep it tight with all these conservative roles but they are inviting truck loads of pressure. There is nothing wrong with attacking roles as long as you cover them with support roles or defensive roles, as usual a balanced coherent distribution of roles is half the battle, after that it's studying the style of play of opponents which can be found looking at the opposition managers profile.

Fair enough thanks for your input, I'll keep you posted ?

Ok so after reading the attached sticky for hours! I've decided to have another crack with spurs! So here's my intial thoughts

Llrois sweeper keeper not sure of duty yet

Going to sign to new full backs on support duty

Dembele as a deep lying playmaker defend

Going to sign another midfielder to play a support role

Using the 'AM' strata I'm playing eriksen not sure of duty yet

Two wingers set to attack one being lamela going to sign another

And one up top undecided on role and duty

Again any thoughts would be helpful, I've pretty much just studied the sticky and set out from it

Mentality either control or attacking

Team shape either flexible or fluid

Team instructions short passing play out of defence and low tempo

Ok so after reading the attached sticky for hours! I've decided to have another crack with spurs! So here's my intial thoughts

Llrois sweeper keeper not sure of duty yet

Going to sign to new full backs on support duty

Dembele as a deep lying playmaker defend

Going to sign another midfielder to play a support role

Using the 'AM' strata I'm playing eriksen not sure of duty yet

Two wingers set to attack one being lamela going to sign another

And one up top undecided on role and duty

Again any thoughts would be helpful, I've pretty much just studied the sticky and set out from it

Mentality either control or attacking

Team shape either flexible or fluid

Team instructions short passing play out of defence and low tempo

4231? With 2 CM's? It's a decent set up although I'd prefer at least one attacking duty fullback coupled with support duty winger to help transition out of defence better and add variation on the wings. If you do decide to go with Control or Attacking playing out of defence might be redundant as at those mentalities your defenders are using short passing.

Don't forget to study the opposition managers profile before games to see how he plays. A manager at home who likes Direct play and low mentality "balanced", "defensive" etc will be looking to counter the spaces your aggressive style leaves for instance. You will also need to take into account his teams current form and weather he is at home/away favourites or not, but it's better than going into matches blind with the same strategy for every team

4231? With 2 CM's? It's a decent set up although I'd prefer at least one attacking duty fullback coupled with support duty winger to help transition out of defence better and add variation on the wings. If you do decide to go with Control or Attacking playing out of defence might be redundant as at those mentalities your defenders are using short passing.

Don't forget to study the opposition managers profile before games to see how he plays. A manager at home who likes Direct play and low mentality "balanced", "defensive" etc will be looking to counter the spaces your aggressive style leaves for instance. You will also need to take into account his teams current form and weather he is at home/away favourites or not, but it's better than going into matches blind with the same strategy for every team

Yes 4-2-3-1 with 2 cm

What's wrong with having both full backs on support and both wingers on attack?

Would you not play attacking mentality?

The board philipsophies are attacking football and possession football

I agree with setting up multiple tactics do u feel u can use the same 4-2-3-1 as this suits spurs and just change the mentality and shape and team instructions, players roles and duties ect?

What I'm struggling with this year and fm14 is the descriptions used on the mentalities, shape, ect along with player roles and duties as what the game says and what they actually do is confusing, eg attacking and fluid dosent mean goals same as defensive and highly structured dosent equal no goals

The more I read the more I get confused!

This is my 6th restart on fm15 so far!, my 1st one where I just went with 'common sense' worked the best, since I've read stickys ect ect I feel like I'm setting it all up via 'advice' rather than logic

That said I do appreciate your thoughts and don't disregard them I'm just getting in a bit of a mess!, seems like this year and last that you can't 'keep it simple' eg 4-4-2 full back, wingers, big man little man combo or no 10 play attacking which all seems logical but just dosent work!

If you find the fluidity or any other setting confusing just leave it on flexible and fiddle with the settings you can figure out. That's what I do, and it works fine.

There's nothing wrong with having the same full-back-winger relationship on each side, as long as you feel it fits the roles and positions of the other players in your team.

A support winger and a care free attacking full-back don't really fit into a 4-2-3-1 imo. You need your back 4 to retain their structure without a dedicated holding player.

Yes 4-2-3-1 with 2 cm

What's wrong with having both full backs on support and both wingers on attack?

Would you not play attacking mentality?

The board philipsophies are attacking football and possession football

I agree with setting up multiple tactics do u feel u can use the same 4-2-3-1 as this suits spurs and just change the mentality and shape and team instructions, players roles and duties ect?

What I'm struggling with this year and fm14 is the descriptions used on the mentalities, shape, ect along with player roles and duties as what the game says and what they actually do is confusing, eg attacking and fluid dosent mean goals same as defensive and highly structured dosent equal no goals

The more I read the more I get confused!

This is my 6th restart on fm15 so far!, my 1st one where I just went with 'common sense' worked the best, since I've read stickys ect ect I feel like I'm setting it all up via 'advice' rather than logic

That said I do appreciate your thoughts and don't disregard them I'm just getting in a bit of a mess!, seems like this year and last that you can't 'keep it simple' eg 4-4-2 full back, wingers, big man little man combo or no 10 play attacking which all seems logical but just dosent work!

There is nothing inherently wrong with your wing duty selection, I was merely suggesting variation on each side to keep the AI on its toes. I didn't say not to play attacking football!! I mentioned about short passing from the back shouts when implementing aggressive mentalities.

Cheers ? thets see how this one goes! Hopefully my planned 4 signings will help this time as rose naughton chadli and paulinho just not good enough IMO